When household items break, the temptation is to chuck them out, yet our throw-away society means we are filling up landfill sites and using up natural resources at an alarming rate.

But in Holland, 96 so-called Repair Cafes staffed by volunteers, some of whom are unemployed, have been set up to help people mend items rather than throw them away.

Matan Rochlitz travels to Amsterdam to see for himself how the initiative is bringing together communities and diverting scores of items, from suitcases to lamps, from the scrapheap.

About 'earthrise'

'earthrise' is an award-winning series exploring solutions to the environmental challenges we face today.

The programme takes an upbeat look at ecological, scientific, technological and design projects all around the world, from a group of Dutch architects who design stunning buildings made from waste materials, to an ingenious project that has dramatically cut rhino poaching on a South African game reserve.